We've covered quite a few clubs on our wonderkid factories series now and at least three of those have been in England but for weeks now one of our writers (Mr Ingham) has been nagging me relentlessly to cover his favourite side, Leeds United.
https://youtu.be/AGvWmG-sCaU
Well his efforts have paid off and it only seems right to take a look at the Whites after Joe Gelhardt's first senior goal at the weekend.
Leeds' Thorp Arch academy has rightly drawn a lot of praise in the last few seasons with Mark Jackson's U23's winning PL2 Division 2 last season and many of the youngsters moving through the ranks to contribute in Marcelo Bielsa's first team.
Until the 1960's and the arrival of Don Revie, the Whites could have easily been referred to as a yo-yo team as they regularly bounced between the first and second division. Revie changed all of that by changing the club culture and drawing fans back in droves to Elland Road.
The side was built on the experience and talent of players like Billy Bremner and Eddie Gray who had graduated from the academy after Revie had placed an increasing focus there because of the club's financial difficulties when he took over in 1961. He also adopted the all white kit as an homage to Real Madrid, which is still used by the Yorkshire club today.
Revie's side would win two league titles, a League Cup and an FA Cup, all of which the club had never won before. They also made a European Cup final but lost to Bayern Munich in controversial circumstances. The only criticism of his team was it's 'extreme physicality' which earned the Whites the nickname of 'Dirty Leeds' which is still used on occasion today.
The main man behind that criticism was Brian Clough, who at the time was in charge of Derby County but was then surprisingly chose to succeed Revie at Leeds after he left for the England job. Clough quickly lost the dressing room at the Yorkshire club and was sacked after just 44 days and Revie would fail with England never repeating the success he had with the Whites anywhere else.
It would take 20 years for Leeds to become Champions of England again this time under Howard Wilkinson, who is the last English manager to win the top flight of English football, an anniversary that will turn 30 years old at the end of this season.
The Whites would establish themselves as a top 4 club in the early 2000's and even made the Champions League semi-final in 2002, but just two years later they were relegated from the Premier League, having to sell a number of talented players to avoid extinction.
In 2007, the club was placed into administration and were relegated to League One. It took them until 2010 to get back to the Championship and then the club stagnated for a decade before finally getting back to the Premier League after a 16 year absence in 2020.
It's no surprise that the club's success has coincided with another wave of youth players entering their first team and even a quick look at their list of academy graduates is enough to see why Revie placed so much trust in youth. The list includes
James Milner, Gary Speed,
Aaron Lennon, Paul Robinson, David Seaman, Denis Irwin, Alan Smith, David Batty,
Danny Rose, Jonathan Woodgate,
Fabian Delph,
Scott Carson,
Tom Cairney and of course
Kalvin Phillips.
As usual we've also picked our next three stars, this time from Thorp Arch.
Charlie Cresswell (Centre Back)
Cresswell has been a beneficiary of Leeds' first team injuries and similarly to Gelhardt, started his season with the U23's before jumping into the first team. He made his full senior debut against Fulham in the EFL cup before making his Premier League debut just four days later against West Ham. He's gone on to make three more appearances for the first team and has featured for England's U21's.
Nohan Kenneh (Defensive Midfield)
Kenneh is the youngest player on this list at just 18, and is yet to make the same impact on the first team as the other two. However, he's been vital to the U23's in their campaign making 14 appearances and finding the net once and he's also featured for England's U17's on three occasions.
Joe Gelhardt (Centre Forward)
Probably the most recognisable name on this list, Gelhardt burst onto the scene this season with his lively performances. He's only 19 and started the season on fire for the U23's scoring 7 goals in 9 games including an absolute showstopper against Liverpool's U23's. Since then, he's regularly featured in Bielsa's first team, making four appearances scoring once and grabbing an assist.
